Is it just me, or has this been a particularly busy month?

My inbox has become a graveyard of memos I send to myself and my desk is somewhere under these post-its.

It’s time to de-clutter.

I’m about to share a pile of BostonCreates info, art opportunities, job postings, local news, & videos I just happen to like with you.

Ready? Let’s go.

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BostonCreates

In the news..

–Boston arts leaders say: Show them the money , Malcom Gay, Boston Globe

-Anonymous email I received in response to Malcom’s post:

“Reading Malcolm Gay’s article about Boston Creates reminds me of a parent who hires a consultant to interview his child about what he wants for his birthday.  The child lists 20 things he has long wanted, only to have his father say they are not affordable.  Why hire the consultant, why stimulate a vital art life in Boston if it is not affordable?

I think that a focus group with representatives from each neighborhood and arts organizations and a few independent artists could have come up with a very similar plan over a weekend. And they would have the ingenuity to come up with initial funding for a number of projects.”

I do love a well-articulated viewpoint.

–Boston’s Creative Crisis, Patti Hartigan, Boston Magazine

“Marty Walsh’s $1.4 million Boston Creates plan was supposed to turbocharge the city’s arts scene. A year after its launch, are we ever going to get anything other than a series of kumbaya sessions and generic platitudes?”

-I recently reread a mid-election FLUX post from 2013 called The New Mayor of Boston, back when Marty and John Connolly were still head to head.. I think my sentiment is still applicable given the current climate.

Action Item:#BosArtsChat 5/26/16 12PM 

From MASSCREATIVE–

On May 9, Mayor Walsh, Julie Burros and the Boston Creates team released a draft of the City’s Cultural Plan for public review in preparation for its release in June at the Americans for the Arts Convention. And it’s already sparked a lot of buzz.

Over the past two weeks, Boston’s creative community submitted public comments on the draft and many arts and cultural leaders have voiced their feedback in the media. Before the final Plan is released in June, we want to help amplify your voice, too. That’s why we’re hosting the #BosArtsChat on Twitter this Thursday, May 26 at noon.

The Boston Globe weighed in with an editorial, outlining a list of concerns about the City of Boston’s draft plan: it does not have a clear roadmap for action nor does it have new funding streams to implement the plan. Boston Magazine gave a detailed report of the Cultural Planning Process, pointing out that accountability and funding were always part of the conversation – from the Boston Creates Steering Committee down to the Town Halls and Community Conversations.

Thursday’s Twitter Chat will be guided by a panel of leaders in Boston’s arts and cultural scene, including:

Catherine Peterson, Executive Director of ArtsBoston ( @catherpeterson )

Craig Coogan, Executive Director of Boston Gay Men’s Chorus ( @BGMC1982 )

Sarah Shampnois, Managing Director of Company One ( @sshampnois )

Reggie Williams, Community Relations Manager of Press Pass TV ( @reginauldw )

Edrie, WIREFOREST / Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys ( @armyoftoys )

Together, we’ll be diving into the creative community’s concerns about the Cultural Plan and talking about possible solutions to fund the important work of the cultural sector. If we pool our resources in this discussion, we’ll have a great takeaway for the City of Boston to help strengthen the final version of the Plan.

UPDATE:..and I was just asked to the roster, great!

Liz Devlin, destroyer of worlds, curator to the stars, founder of FLUX. (@FLUXBoston)

(I’m sure they will tweak that copy)

Thank you MASSCreative for organizing this, see you tomorrow at 12PM EST

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Artportunities

O’Hare Modernization Program/ Call for Art

Overview: “The new facility will house an opportunity for seven spaces for artists/teams to compete to display their new innovative ideas for public art. Considering the large daily traffic through the structure (an estimated 1.5 million people per month), this serves as an opportunity for artists to display their effort and interpretation of public art related to the site. The selection process of proposals will be led by panel of professional arts administrators, curators, arts leaders and city officials.”

Learn more here.

Excited to be jurying a show at Uforge this summer! I wanted to leave the theme (and medium) open so you didn’t feel compelled to participate in a “call for art: cats wearing sunglasses” show.

Hope you can participate–

Registration Deadline:Friday, July 8 at midnight

Acceptance Notification: July 15-17, 2016

Drop off: Saturday, July 23 & Sunday, July 24, 12-6 PM

Exhibition Dates: August 5 – 28, 2016

Reception: Friday, August 5, 6-9 PM

What/Why: Uforge Gallery is pleased to announce its third annual juried exhibition, “Juror’s Choice,” with FLUX. Boston founder Elizabeth Devlin acting as our special guest juror. Her experiences as an artist, curator, and critic give her a balanced, thoughtful, and enthusiastic perspective on the local contemporary art scene. We will be accepting painting, drawing, prints, small sculpture, mixed media, and photography, with no limitations on style or subject. This is your chance to show off your best work in a selective environment. $25 registration fee per 3 image submissions.

Learn more here

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Call for Proposals: 2016-2017 CURRENT Artist Residency Program at the Boston Children’s Museum

Deadline: Thursday June 30, 11:59PM

How: Official Website

Money Matters: $2,000 stipend, $500 for materials, $400 for related programming

What/Why: “CURRENT Artist Residency Program at Boston Children’s Museum is inspired by the teaching and learning theories of contemporary artists and educators. Resident Artists are invited to enact for children, families and colleagues, their unique understandings of what it means to teach and learn through the arts. Artists will build a relationship with the institution and its audiences by planning and executing a site-specific installation and related programming. CURRENT offers children and families access to contemporary artists through on-site making, artist-designed learning experiences and child-oriented video interviews with the artist. By creating an immersive and durable site-specific installation, the project is meant to inspire and broaden a child’s developing notion of what it means to be an artist. In addition, the program is designed to expand and enhance the role Boston Children’s Museum plays in a broader dialogue on arts teaching and learning. 

The Resident Artist will do three site-visits in August in order to refine their project proposal, create a schedule for the on-site work, identifying areas of interest and meeting with other BCM staff. The Resident Artist will be in regular correspondence with BCM’s Art Programs Manager Alice Vogler and Partner Maggie Cavallo of Alter Projects throughout the fall; be required to spend a minimum of 20 hours on-site in November-December to complete their installation, as well as design and execute at two hour-long programs for BCM audiences between January-March. 

The CURRENT Artist Resident will receive a $2000 stipend, $500 for materials and $400 for programming developed in relation to their residency.”

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New Art Center – Curatorial Opportunity Program

Deadline: June 1st, 2016

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The Curatorial Opportunity Program (COP) is an open-call curatorial platform that investigates contemporary culture through the visual arts. It makes possible diverse curatorial visions in a collaborative, non-profit and alternative exhibition space. Curators of selected group exhibitions receive a $1,000 stipend and administrative, promotional and technical support.

We host exhibitions involving two or more artists and incorporating at least one public presentation in our 2,000 square-foot gallery.

The New Art Center has a 35-year tradition of using its Main Gallery for group exhibitions curated by an independent curator. Since May 1991, we have continued this tradition through our Curatorial Opportunity Program’s public call for proposals.”

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In The Community

Friday Face  – Aurélie Galois

(^Aurelie was kind enough to include my face in her project)

When: On view June 2 through July 4

Where: French Cultural Center, 53 Marlborough Street, Boston, MA 02116

Opening Reception: June 1st from 6:30 to 8:30.

What/Why: “Boston, MA– The French Cultural Center is pleased to exhibit FRIDAY FACE- a year in Boston by Aurélie Galois for the month of June. The opening reception will take place on Wednesday, June 1 at 6:30 PM.

FRIDAY FACE- a year in Boston is the result of a year-long experiment in spontaneous drawings and interviews led by French artist Aurélie Galois. Once a week, the artist would do a quick, small-palette portrait of whichever person she happened to be most interested in at that moment, accompany it with a brief handwritten text explaining who the person was, and post it online.”

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From The Desk of Scott Listfield

I thought the following post that Scott posted his FB would be helpful to share with you. Unfortunately, the art world is not immune to shitty people. Over the years, I’ve heard about artists being taken advantage of because of their age, situations where English isn’t their first language, or just plain distance; Sketchy gallerists don’t think you’ll fly to Australia to chew them out for not issuing payment for sold work, and unfortunately for them, the internet exists..

“Hey, can we talk? I usually like to post things here that are positive. When I started making these weird paintings of astronauts, I had no idea if anyone would ever like them. But I’ve received so much support for my work over the years from all of you. It’s been amazing. Thank you.

But things in the art world aren’t always rosy. I’ve had the good fortune to work with some great galleries over the years, but I’ve also been the victim of a disturbing trend lately. There are galleries that have sold my work and have decided that they don’t feel like paying me. They simply stop replying to emails and phone calls. It’s happened to me four times in my career. It’s frustrating, it’s tiring, and it’s demoralizing.

The Future Is Now – Videos To Kill Time To

Canvas+Code: The Creation of A ‘Fine Art Video Game’

“What do you get when you take a painter with a penchant for the peculiar and a programmer fluent in pixels?”

Learn more here.

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“Promo from Valve demos the experience of their VR headset using third person camera to great effect” 

Modern escapism

Richard Quinn for Hint Magazine

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The Banksy Job 

What/Why: “Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, The Banksy Job tells the real life story of self-professed “art terrorist” Andy Link – perhaps better known by his moniker “AK47” – who attempted to steal a Banksy piece called The Drinker in 2004.

Having moonlighted as a former porn star and football hooligan, Link set his sights on revenge against Banksy after the Bristol artist refused to sign his print.

While the film doesn’t have an official release date, there’s no denying that this story seems so bizarre that it appears to be cut from a similar cloth as Exit Through the Gift Shop.”

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reEarth: Hortum machina, B

“Echoing the architecture of Buckminster Fuller, the geodesic sphere, is both exoskeleton and ecological iconography. Its core of twelve garden modules, each carrying native British species on outwardly-extending linear actuators allow the structure to become mobile by shifting its centre-of-gravity. Electro-physiological sensing of the state of individual plants collectively and democratically controls decision-making of the orientation of the structure and its mobility. In the near future context of driverless cars, autonomous flying vehicles, and seemingly endless other forms of intelligent robotics co-habiting our built environment. Hortum machina B is a speculative urban cyber-gardener.”

Learn more here.

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